NEW DELHI: Govt is investigating the payment of kickbacks linked to the purchase of a dozen helicopters from Italian state-controlled defence group Finmeccanica and could put off the deal, an Indian Defence Ministry official said.

The official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the information, said Rs 40 crore ($744,000) kickbacks were under investigation by law enforcement agencies.

The alleged scam in the defence helicopter deal took a new turn with its chief being arrested in Milan, prompting the government here to order a CBI probe.

"Giuseppe Orsi, the head of Italian defence and aerospace giant Finmeccanica, was arrested on Monday in relation to a probe into international corruption. He is suspected of involvement in the payment of bribes regarding the sale to the Indian government of 12 helicopters produced by Finmeccanica's subsidiary AgustaWestland," Italian news agency Ansa said.

Prosecutors suspect that around 50 million euros (Rs 362 crore approximately), about 10 per cent of the deal were ploughed back into kickbacks to ensure AgustaWestland won the contract, the agency reported.

In February 2010, India had inked the deal to acquire the 12 three-engine AW-101 helicopters from AgustaWestland for IAF's elite Communication Squadron, which ferries around the President, PM and other VVIPs.

Soon after the news of arrest reached here today, Defence Minister A K Antony ordered a CBI probe into the deal.

The Ministry said it had sought information from governments of Italy and UK but "no specific inputs" were received substantiating the allegations.

"Since no specific input has been received from the two governments, the Ministry of Defence has decided to refer the case to CBI for inquiry," Defence Ministry spokesman said.

The Italian firm had pipped American Sikorsky to bag the crore deal, which was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security despite initial objections from the finance ministry.

The deal has been under the scanner for more than a year now after Italian media reports suggested the arrest of two alleged middlemen in Europe for paying bribes to secure it.

The first three of the 12 AgustaWestland VVIP choppers have already arrived in India and the rest are expected to be supplied to the IAF by the middle of next year.